Rock the Night Away
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, days 1198a-1218a: One Friday night at a concert, loves of present, past, and perhaps future are brought together, whether they like it or not. - Valentine special, multiship - A/N: ch.10 having trouble on upload, will be up eventually I hope...
1. Take It To The Music

_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 56th cycle. Now cycle 57!_

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_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

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**"Rock the Night Away"  
Valentine's Day story - Multiship  
_(there will be several ships featured in this story, some I ship, others were included so not to be excluded)_  
_(for an example, see my VD story from 2 years ago, "Love and the Gentle Heart...")_  
**

**1. Take It To The Music**

_Lima, Ohio – Two weeks ago_

Kitty had walked into the choir room that day, bringing the chatter of the rest of Glee Club to a grinding halt with a whistle. A handful of them were startled and plugged their ears until she'd stopped.

"Okay, listen up," she addressed the group. "I have something to share, because I'm nice."

"What did she just say?" Unique frowned. Kitty ignored the comment.

"My dad knows this guy, who knows this other guy. Basically I was able to score tickets to a concert."

"How many tickets?" Tina sat up.

"Do you think I'd be airing this out in public if I didn't have enough for all of us?"

"Yes," several answered at once.

"Keep this up and you're not getting one," she pulled the stack from her pocket, calling up their voices all over again, which made her threaten to whistle again.

"What the hell did you do to score that many?" Puck asked.

"Do I even want to know what you're doing hanging around here today?" Kitty turned to him.

"Whatever. Do I get one, too?" She frowned, but she handed him one. "Sweet," he looked at it, reading what it said. "Actually worth it."

"The concert's in two weeks, on Friday night, and we might have to skip out on a couple classes to make the drive. Who's in?"

X

_New York City – Four days later_

The minute Kurt had come through the door, he'd been approached by Rachel, wearing a smile as big as he'd ever seen.

"Please tell me Brody's not here right now, or was it something else that put that big a smile on you?" he asked. She blinked, but then she shook her head.

"When you find out what he just brought over, you'll be smiling, too."

"Didn't actually answer my question with that," he still looked hesitant, so she presented him with the ticket. "But then again, I'd be open to try anything…" he took it up. "He's taking you?"

"He is," she nodded.

"Fine, just don't take it the wrong way if I'm wildly jealous, and can you please bring me back a shirt or something?" he handed it back to her, but she smirked and pushed it back toward him.

"Get your own shirt, that ticket is yours."

"What?" his eyes popped and she laughed.

"He'd gotten an extra ticket for a friend, but said friend sort of botched on an exam so he has to stay here and study. So when Brody asked if I might know someone who'd like to have the ticket…"

"Poor guy, that is a shame, a right shame," he said the words though he lacked any sort of pity, instead sporting his own wide smile. "I'm not going to be in the way, am I? Not looking forward to being a third wheel to you guys."

"It's not like that, I promise. I kind of think it's perfect, just us three on a Friday night, me and my guys."

"Please don't call us that," he shook his head and she mimed him before smiling.

"This is going to be great, it will," she wrapped her arms around his.

X

_New Haven, Connecticut – a week later_

The message was waiting for her when she got out of class. After the way they'd left things before, she wasn't sure how she'd respond to getting a call from her. But then it was Santana; in the end she would be happy to hear from her. So she called her back.

"How much do you love me?"

"Is that a trick question?" she smirked.

"What are you doing Friday night? And don't tell me Professor What's-His-Face."

"Okay, nice talking to you, San…"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Seriously, what are you up to?" Quinn sighed, heading toward the coffee cart.

"I don't know, studying, probably."

"You're in college, Fabray, what is the matter with you?"

"I'm guessing you have something else to offer?" she smirked.

"As a matter of fact, I do. Check your phone, I just sent you a picture." Quinn pulled back and did as told, resisting the urge to joke as to whether the picture was safe to look at in public. But then she saw all there was in the image was a concert ticket.

"Is that for me?"

"It is. If you take it though, you have to pay me back, or else I'm selling it to someone else."

"Who else is going, or is it just you and me?"

"I sprang for four tickets, so I decided why not extend the favor to some friends of mine I don't get to see as much."

"And which friends are those?"

"Mercedes, and Mike," Santana revealed, and Quinn had to admit the thought of seeing them did make her smile. "So how about it, am I hanging on to this ticket for you or am I passing it forward?" Quinn needed only a few seconds to consider it.

"Hang on to it for me."

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	2. Sing Along, Ride Along

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

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**"Rock the Night Away"**

**2. Sing Along, Ride Along**

_On the road from Lima_

They'd split into three cars. The first carried Tina, Brittany, Sugar, Artie, and Blaine. The second carried Sam, Joe, Finn, Puck, and Ryder, as the third car, Kitty's car, would only carry four, no way around it. She rode with Marley, Jake, and Unique.

"We could have fit one more," Marley had remarked as they drove off. She knew she wasn't the only one who would have liked to have Ryder along with them.

"It's going to be a long drive, if you want to ride in a tight fit, you're welcome to join one of the other cars. I'm offering you comfort, how about some thanks?"

As comfortable as they may have been physically, there remained something uncomfortable about the whole ride, though they wouldn't speak a word of it. Actually they didn't speak a word of many things. Most of the ride was spent in silence, none of them being sure what to say.

This was not a problem in Sugar's car. The space had been filled with loud singing from the moment they had taken off. It was to wonder if the vehicle wasn't being powered forward by the force of their voices alone. Blaine was up in the passenger seat, with Tina, Artie, and Brittany sandwiched in the back. If they were squeezed together at all, none of them found cause to protest. Blaine did at times have to remind Sugar to stay focused on the road in the midst of her singing, but she was in a lot more control than she appeared to be.

"Hey, we should so do this one in Glee Club!" she called out over the music as the song changed. The fact that they could talk about it as a reality again still felt like something of a relief, and the rest of the car had chimed in their approval over the performance idea. This was followed by a debate of who would get the solo parts, though it went away once the next song came on, and the sing along resumed.

The other car, 'the dude car' as some had dubbed it, was alive with sounds as well, though more of talking than singing. The only exception was Joe, who'd fallen asleep with his face nearly plastered to the window. Sam and Ryder were at his side, with Finn and Puck in the front.

"I'm glad you could come with us, man," Finn told his friend.

"Yeah, it's just wrong how much I'm still into hanging out with all you guys," Puck nodded and, at Finn's frown. "You know what I mean, not like that."

"Right. I don't know, I guess I always thought we'd do something like this one day, just us, the way we used to be, before some of us graduated, and left Lima…"

"Dude, don't go there, alright. You're not going to spend this whole concert moping about Rachel again."

"No, I know, I'm not," he promised.

X

_On the road from New York City_

They'd borrowed the car from a friend at NYADA, with the express knowledge that any damage they caused would have to be paid by them, so they better be careful with it. When Brody had offered to drive, Kurt had convinced Rachel to ride in the back with him.

"It'll be like he's our chauffeur," Rachel had smirked as they got in.

"Might not want to tell him that," Kurt had suggested.

"Good point," she nodded.

Secretly she hoped that this concert would help the two of them bond. She knew Kurt still had his issues with Brody, but he was becoming a bigger part of her life, and Kurt was her best friend, and she needed them to get along.

She first tried to start the process by benefiting from the car ride, just the three of them. It had worked in the beginning, but with the passing of the minutes, she could see the conversation start to lag, and eventually it just came to a grinding halt. That was alright though, she told herself. There was always the concert, the excitement of it all.

X

_On the road from New Haven_

She would have thought that they would meet there, considering they all came from different locations. But then she'd gotten a call to inform her that she would be picked up at a certain time, so she had to be ready. She'd stood there, waiting, and then the car arrived. Mercedes was at the wheel, but she wasn't alone. There were three others in the car.

There were Mike and Santana in the back, while in the passenger seat there sat a guy she had never met before. Mercedes introduced him as her boyfriend, Tony.

"I sort of wanted to introduce him to you guys, and we managed to get an extra ticket in the row just behind us," she explained with a bit of a smile; she looked happy, and that was all they needed to know.

"Do you have the money?" Santana asked as she sat in the back with her and Mike.

"Yes, and hello," Quinn smirked. "I'll give it to you when we get there. Are we going to get there in time?" she looked to Mercedes as they pulled away.

"You just sit back, I'll get us there before you know it."

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	3. Hello Again

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

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**"Rock the Night Away"**

**3. Hello Again**

Despite concerns that they might not arrive in time, they had made it with a solid forty minutes to spare before the concert began. This was good news to Santana, who had fallen asleep during the ride and now wanted to go and fix her hair. She'd left Quinn, Mike, Mercedes and her boyfriend to go and find their seats, while she tracked down the girls' bathroom. She wasn't expecting anything of the night except for a good time with friends, but it did not mean she would sport car-sleep hair.

She wasn't the only one who'd been caught with the same situation, if the lineup of girls in and around the bathroom was any indication. She had squeezed her way through on the excuse that she didn't need the toilets so much as the mirror. Some had argued, and that was their right, but she wouldn't listen either. The line stretched behind her, but all she focused on was her hair. That was until she'd heard a familiar voice.

"I don't think I've ever been to a concert with so many people before," one girl was saying.

"Welcome to the big leagues," another replied, and Santana felt an urge to slap out of the blue, sight unseen. She knew those voices, where… She turned her eyes up to the mirror and she saw them, standing in the line. The little one was not in her Cheerios uniform tonight, but it was her alright, both of them. Santana picked up her things and slipped out unseen, pulling out her phone.

"Hey, you'll never believe who I saw in the bathroom," she told Quinn.

"Kitty and Marley?" she replied, and Santana froze.

"How'd you do that?"

"Hang on," Quinn told her, and then…

"Santana?"

"Tina?" she nearly dropped her phone. "You're here, too?"

"We're all here, well the Glee Club, and Finn, and Puck. Kitty got us the tickets." Santana felt her breath catch in her throat.

"Britt's here?"

"She is, she's in there now with Sam, Ryder, and Jake, to find our seats, make sure Artie has his spot. It's so weird you're here, too, you and Quinn."

"She didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Mercedes is here, too, with her new boyfriend. And Mike's here," she looked around.

"He is?" she could hear Tina's small voice, but then she paused when her eyes caught…

"No way… Tina, hang on. Hey, Hummel!" she called out.

"Kurt's here?" Tina's voice came back. He had stopped at the sound of his name. And then she'd stepped into view; she'd pointed Santana out to him.

"And Rachel," she told Tina, stopping to count. "So the gang's all here," she closed her eyes. Rachel, Kurt, and Brody came up to her.

"Santana, wow!" Rachel was thrilled, moving to hug her. "What are you doing here? I mean I know… what you're… it's just… Hi," she laughed.

"Yeah, about that…" Santana had started to say, just as the bathroom door opened behind her.

"Hey, aren't they in…" Kurt pointed, and Santana turned. Marley and Kitty had stopped, too, seeing them standing there.

"Hey… Hi… You guys are here, too?" Marley asked.

"We are, and… Hold on," she remembered her phone. "Tina, sorry, I'll call back in a sec," she told her before hanging up.

"Tina's here?" Rachel asked.

"We're all here, Glee Club," Marley smiled with a nod.

"And Puck," Kitty added.

"And Finn," Rachel's smile cracked. She looked to Kurt, whose face was telling her he'd silently added 'And Blaine' to the roster.

"Quinn's here, Mercedes, and Mike. Oh, and Mercedes brought her boyfriend," Santana counted off.

"Huh…" Kurt was impressed. "How did we all manage to end up here?"

"Cruel trick of nature?" Kitty shrugged, tugging at Marley's arm. "Come on."

"Call us if you want to find us!" Marley called to them as she followed Kitty.

"Where are you sitting?" Kurt asked Santana, trying not to come off distracted. She showed him her ticket. "That's actually not too far off from us."

"Well let's go find the others then. They'll probably have found each other by now," Santana lead the way. Brody had excused himself to go to the men's room, so it left Santana, Rachel, and Kurt to go and find 'the others.' Santana had known that Tina would be with Quinn.

In fact it had been Tina, and Artie, and Finn. Tina must have told him that Rachel was here. He wasn't surprised to see her; he looked like he'd been waiting on it. She had the same look on her face; they didn't want things to be awkward, but then they would be anyway. Still she tried to focus on the good parts, they all did. They were in the company of friends, those very friends they would miss dearly from day to day. So with that in mind, they went through the doors to find their seats.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	4. Right In The Center Of It All

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Rock the Night Away"**

**4. Right in the Center of it All**

They'd known better than to go off trying to locate the seats on their own. Even then, once they did get to the section, they thought for sure someone had messed up.

"This is like a nosebleed on a nosebleed," Jake commented.

"Is that the stage?" Ryder asked, looking down.

"It could be worse," Sam shrugged, picking a seat. Brittany dropped in at his side. "We could be at home, not here," he looked to the others.

"We'll get everyone over," Jake frowned and they headed off, leaving the two of them sat in the middle of their pack of fourteen seats. They had the whole row to them and a couple in the back.

"You're not disappointed, are you?" Sam had turned to Brittany.

"Why, because we're high?" she asked. He nodded. "I don't mind," she promised.

"Really?"

"Really," she repeated. "When you win at the Olympics, you have the highest step. And it's kind of like that, except it's a really big step."

"But the band's way down there," he reminded her.

"But they're here, and so are we. We're going to breathe the same air and everything. What happened, you told Jake and Ryder it'd be worse if we weren't here."

"I know, and I mean it. I still wish it wasn't like this," he looked at her. He wanted her to have a good time most of all.

"We'll have a blast. It's all of us, all of Glee Club, and a ton of other people, loud music, all of it." It was impossible not to get energized by how excited she still managed to be.

"I can get you a t-shirt later, how does that sound?"

"Will you get one for Lord Tubbington, too?" she asked, and he smiled.

"Yeah, I'll get one for him, too," he bowed his head and she cheered. "Okay, want to play a game before it starts?"

"Yes, please," she sat up.

"I used to do this with my little brother and sister when we lived at the hotel, standing out on the balcony. We used cars, but it's basically the same, with people. We picked three things. Something small like… a red car. That's one point. Something a bit bigger, say…"

"Bumper sticker!" Brittany chipped in.

"That's three points. And then the giant, something you'd be lucky to see once in a day if at all, broken tail light, or one of those 'baby on board' signs, that's five points. So, you want to play?" She nodded. "What's going to be one point?" She started to turn, and he stopped her. "No, no, you can't look, that's cheating. Come on, pick something." She smiled, thinking.

"A hat," she declared. "Three points?" Now he thought.

"Oh, what about group shirts, you know?"

"That's good," she agreed. "What about five points though?" Now they both thought about it, coming up empty. "I don't know what's unlikely enough."

"How about seeing someone else we know here?" They looked up to see the others were filing in to the row. "Because we've got you beat," Tina informed them.

"What the hell, they told me they'd be good tickets," Kitty looked ready to raise hell.

"It's not so…" Joe started to say, which got him a face full of Kitty's hand.

"This is not happening."

"Whatever, let's just sit here, we can still hear them play," Jake told her, following Marley so they'd sit side by side.

"What were you saying about…" Sam turned to ask Tina.

"Oh, we were standing out there, and we ran into Quinn."

"Quinn's here?" Brittany perked up.

"And she's not alone. I didn't see them all, but Mike's here, too, and Mercedes, and Santana. And then if that wasn't surprise enough…" Sam and Brittany had both been surprised plenty, at the news of their exes being in the building.

"Wow," Sam breathed.

"That's not even all of it," Tina went on. "Rachel and Kurt are here, too."

The concert would be starting soon, they could feel it by looking around more than by looking at their watches. While some talked, others craned their necks to see the stage, and Kitty sulked, Sam could see Brittany looking around. It wasn't the stage that had her attention but the audience.

"How many points so far?" he asked her with a smirk.

"Twenty-six… twenty-seven… thirty… Oh, thirty-five… And forty!" she pointed.

"Wait, how did you get a five-pointer, we never set it."

"Sure we did, seeing someone else we know here, look," she pointed to one of the screens set down around the stage. It would alternate and show audience members as they waited for the show. One of the screens was showing Kurt and Rachel. "That's five points each. We should have made group shirts, there's a lot of us."

"Where are you going?" they heard Artie asking from behind and they turned just as Finn was standing.

"I'll be back," was all he'd say before he jogged back to the doors into the hall.

"He should have gone to the bathroom before," Brittany shook her head. "Forty-one."

"You can't just play by yourself," Sam told her.

"Fine, then play with me. But I'm going to win, I'm way ahead."

"Well, yeah, you started without me," he leaned in so she could hear him over the rising volume of audience voices.

"We can start over," she shrugged.

"You already know where they are."

"I forgot."

"Well the show's about to start, but we can play on the ride home."

"With cars?" she beamed.

"Sure. Fair warning, I'm excellent with cars," he teased and she laughed, just as the lights dimmed.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	5. Saw Her Face Today

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Rock the Night Away"**

**5. Saw Her Face Today**

It could all be a mistake, he was well aware. He was almost certain she knew he was there, too, but then he also knew she wasn't alone. He was there. Brody. He'd seen them both on that screen. He wouldn't have gone and done a thing if not for the fact that he had spotted their section number behind them, and that if he had a chance to see her face again, he could feel some of that joy she once brought him. For that, he could endure the other feeling, the pain and the regret of how things had ended up.

He wouldn't tell her he regretted putting her on that train some days. It was selfish, to think he might keep her from her dreams if it meant that she wouldn't have gone away and they might not have broken up, but he couldn't help that he felt that way. It would never last long, because then he thought about what it would have meant for her, to stay in Lima when she clearly belonged to the city, to put off the dream she'd nurtured all her life just for him. Then he knew he'd done right, no matter how wrong it could feel now that he'd lost her.

That was what he needed to see by finding her on that day, maybe… seeing in her eyes that they hadn't lost everything, and that they still had something. At the very least he could thank her for the words she'd given him when he'd been at his lowest.

X

"Dude, that guy has nachos," Puck frowned, feeling his stomach calling for them.

"I'm thirsty," Sugar added.

"Someone needs to go for a food run," Artie nodded.

"Why don't you go, you can carry it all in your lap," Puck suggested.

"How am I supposed to get out of here?" Artie frowned.

"Alright, I'll go or this will never end," Unique was the one to cut through the 'negotiation' while it was still fresh. "Get money down here if you want something!" she called to the group. The bills were passed along. "This might take a while."

"I'll come with, I can help carry everything back," Sam stood, turning to Brittany. "And I have shirts to buy." She smirked in agreement.

X

Finn had found the section, although he soon realized this was only half the battle; now he had to actually find her. Between the noise and the lighting, it could take forever. He could look at the back of three hundred heads before he'd find hers… except she'd turned around. She was looking right at him. He froze, debating whether he should go to her or run back to his seat and pretend like this never happened.

He saw her turn to Brody and Kurt, saying something before she stood and started up the stairs. Both of the boys had watched her go, though only Kurt had spotted him there. He slowly waved to his stepbrother, and Finn waved back before moving across a row to get to the aisle Rachel was climbing from. When they came face to face, there was hesitation, but then they smiled and leaned for a quick embrace. "Maybe we should switch, you're already taller than me when we're not standing in stairs," she commented, and he came down so he'd be a step below.

"Better?" he asked, and she nodded. It was hard to call what followed 'silence' when the music and the shouts was enough to force them to raise their voices if they wanted to be heard, but silence did set in. "I didn't know you'd be here," he finally said.

"Brody got the tickets," she revealed.

"Right, I saw him down there," Finn nodded.

"I wish I'd known you guys were here, we could have…" she searched for words, shaking her head.

"Talked awkwardly for a while?" Finn offered her with a smirk and it got a laugh out of her.

"Maybe," she conceded.

"I wanted to tell you… thank you. That phone call, a few weeks ago," he explained.

"You don't have to," she promised, smiling.

"I know, I already told you, but I wanted to tell you face to face," he gestured between them. He paused. "For that minute or two, it felt like…"

"Old times?" she offered, and he nodded. "I know," she told him. "I felt it, too."

"But then it's a minute and after that… here we are."

"We are," she breathed. "I did like talking to you though, I… I missed it."

"We could keep doing it, maybe… once a week, just to talk," he suggested.

"Touch base," she added.

"Yeah, that. Wouldn't hurt to try, would it?"

"Probably not." Silence was threatening to take them again. Conversation used to come so easily, only now there was so much separating them, physical distance, emotional distance… They were all too aware of it, but if they were ever to address it, today wouldn't be the day. Maybe if they kept trying though…

"I should get back, let you go back to watch the show," he pointed down. "You guys have much better seats than we do, we're like… all the way up there," he pointed.

"Wow," she laughed, apologetic. "Okay, well…" she hugged him again, and he breathed deep, like it would make the moment feel longer than the second or two that it actually lasted.

"See you," he nodded, moving past her again. "I'll call you next week?"

"Sure," she smiled.

Watching him go, Rachel wished she'd known what more to tell him. It felt like so long ago now that she would see him every day and now… It could be weeks, especially now that they were broken up, but even then… They'd lost each other before they even realized they had, and knowing that… It had been a bigger blow than she would have expected. They'd tried holding the pieces together, but the glue had dried out. Maybe they could still find a way to salvage something, somehow… someday.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	6. Sweetness & Sweets

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Rock the Night Away"**

**6. Sweetness & Sweets**

Coming across the lineup for snacks, Sam had struck off to search for his t-shirts, hoping to be back in time to help Unique carry everything back. As she waited, it was easy to get pulled into straining one's ears to try and hear the music back in the concert area. Feet shuffled to follow the line, and once the beat had been found, it was hard to let it go… or to realize that her turn had come, until she well nearly ran into the counter.

The impact was prevented with two hands halting her shoulders. Those hands belonged to the boy on the other side of the counter. Unique stood back up straight, startled. "Alright?" the boy asked.

"If I can catch my breath," she touched at her hair. "You're quick," was the best answer that could come from her mind, once she'd found the boy's eyes. They were as perfect as any eye she'd ever seen, and she knew she was in trouble, especially after his next question.

"What can I get you?" If she couldn't see and smell the food she might have forgotten where she was and for what reason.

"I can't remember." It was a miracle any word was coming through, although she felt like a babbling idiot and must have looked it as well.

"It's alright, you take your time," she could hear him say as she looked to the menu on the wall.

"How about speeding it up over there?" a man called from over Unique's shoulder.

"There are other lines if you're in such a rush," the boy pointed. "If not, then keep it shut." The commanding tone surprised both Unique – with a smirk – and the man – with a grumbling abandon.

"Well," Unique turned that smile to the boy. He shrugged, leaning on the counter.

"You've been through a trauma," he reasoned and she nodded, showing a brief show of 'vapors,' which got a laugh out of the boy. "Can I ask your name?" There was a moment, so very brief, where she wondered which one to give. Maybe it was thinking too far ahead, but… "I'm Tommy," the boy had decided to break the tension. "Tomas at home, with the family, but everyone else calls me Tommy."

"My name is… Unique," she finally spoke, hiding caution behind a smile.

"Well, Unique, let me help you out."

"I thought you'd done that already," she pointed out.

"And there's more where that came from," Tommy stood back from the counter. "How many people in your group?"

"How'd you know I was in a group?" she blinked.

"You learn to tell the difference after a while," Tommy explained.

"Fourteen," Unique answered the original question, surprising the vendor.

"Wow, okay," he laughed. "So was that your boyfriend before?"

"Boyfriend?"

"Back there, blonde guy, lips…"

"Sam? Oh, no no… No," she corrected, shaking her head. "Just a friend to help carry… How long have you been watching me?" the question dawned on her.

"Not a stalker, I swear," Tommy looked shy for all of a second.

"Wouldn't mind it if you were," Unique gave it a shot. "Just enough." They were silent for a few seconds, but a good silence, the kind that told her maybe something was headed the way she hadn't dared to hope. There was still bit of doubt though, the one that made her wonder whether Tommy would be aware that, under Unique, there was a boy named Wade, or if it might not have clicked in his head.

"Tommy, speed it up." They both looked up to see the next vendor over was staring, and he did not look as patient.

"Right, take a breath, Ian, I got it," Tommy reached for a cut up box under the counter. Once the other boy had turned back to his customers, Tommy leaned in to explain. "Bad enough to work with your ex if he's your boss, too," he confided, and Unique felt her happiness spike in a laugh.

"Ex, right. Let's not keep him waiting."

"He can wait a little," Tommy shrugged.

X

"What? Hold on, I can't hear you!" Marley plugged one ear while she pressed her phone closer to her ear. "I thought Sam went with you to help… Right, okay, no, I… Got it," she hung up, looking for a way to get up from the row.

"Where are you going?" Jake asked.

"Unique needs me to go help with the food," she explained, sitting back down so not to block people's view.

"You should stay," he decided. "So you don't miss the show."

"No, I don't mind, really."

"Let me save you both the trouble," Puck's voice cut in. "I'll go," he clapped his brother on the shoulder.

X

Together, Unique and Tommy had built up the order, filling the two boxes on the counter. All the while, they had found themselves talking, and Unique discovered some things about the boy. He was a senior in high school, some distance from Lima, but not so far that it would have been unmanageable to try and plot some sort of get together. He was a baseball player, hoping on a scholarship for college. Unique told him about Glee Club, which had brought a confession out of Tommy that he had a voice 'like a strangled bird.' Unique had laughed and insisted it couldn't possibly be true, to which Ian the ex/boss was able to give confirmation.

Soon Sam was bound to return, and she'd called Marley as well. The truth was the prospect of returning to the concert was losing interest to her, and subconsciously all she wanted was to find a way to keep talking to the boy with the tightly cropped dark hair and eyes bordering on hazel. They were all meant to be having fun on this Friday night, and getting to know Tommy was looking so very festive.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	7. Didn't See It Going This Way

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Rock the Night Away"**

**7. Didn't See It Going This Way**

There were a few different shirt designs for him to choose from, and that was one choice on its own. But then there were the prices. His initial choice was much too expensive for his budget. He wanted to get it for Brittany, but there was only so much he could do, especially if he was going to get something for the cat as well.

"Sam?" He turned when he thought he heard his name, and then he saw her.

"Mercedes," he smiled. The breakup had been as painless as it could be, and when she came forward the two embraced. "I heard you were here."

"Yeah, me too," she nodded. "And you're with Brittany now, heard that, too."

"I am," he confirmed, looking at her like he wondered if she'd take it badly.

"That's good, I mean if you're happy."

"Yeah," he smiled. "What about you? Heard you brought someone."

"Tony," she provided the name, and the way her face settled into a smile at the mention of him, Sam could see without even asking that she was happy, too.

"How'd you meet?"

"He works at the studio. He's actually a really good singer, too, and I keep telling him he should do something about it, but he won't. Maybe he needs a little Sam Evans of his own," she smirked and he laughed.

"He's got a Mercedes Jones, that's not bad either," he told her.

"That's true," she mock bragged.

"Shirts?" he asked, pointing to the samples on display.

"I know I could have waited until the end, but there'll be too many people, and we have a long drive."

"Us, too," he nodded. "I can't decide which one to get, and I need to get back there to help Unique with the food," he tilted his head back to where the restaurant was.

"For Brittany?" Mercedes asked, and Sam nodded. "Get that one," she pointed. It was somewhere in the middle, pricewise, and he knew he could manage it.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Definitely."

"Thanks," he smiled. Picking was one thing. They were not the only ones who'd figured to come before the rush. So they waited.

"I was so glad to hear you guys got Glee Club back."

"Yeah, so were we. You should try and come, at Regionals. I mean, if you can manage it, that'd be…"

"Oh, I'll try for sure," she promised. "I can't keep going back and forth all the time, obviously, but if I can make it happen at all, then I'll be there, cheering you guys on."

"Good," he breathed.

Sometimes he still wondered if they could have made things work if they'd tried more. It wasn't that he wasn't happy where he was with everything now, and he knew she was really great with Tony, too. But they'd had themselves a second chance, which had been difficult on both of them for a time, but it had been worth it. Now that he was standing here with her though, he was starting to understand. It wasn't that things hadn't worked out with them, but maybe just that their paths needed to twist together, just long enough to help one another out. If he could count Mercedes Jones as a friend after this, then he would be a lucky one.

"Do you ever miss it? Glee Club, McKinley…"

"Way too much," she admitted. "The other day, Journey came on the radio, and I came this close to a mental breakdown," she went on, which made him laugh. "At least I was in my room. That could have been bad," she shook her head.

"I can't wait for the day where we perform 'Mercedes Jones' first big hit' in there," he told her.

"I don't think you'll still be there by the time that happens," she grinned.

"You never know, you've seen my grades," he had meant it as a joke, though it had come at the expense of pretending to himself he wasn't afraid that would be the case.

"Don't sell yourself short, Sam. You never let me do it, and I'm not going to let you either."

"Alright," he smiled. "I can take that."

X

Kitty had been growing restless from the moment she'd sat in her seat. This was not what she'd had in mind for that night. She wasn't expecting front rows, but she'd been sure it would be something better than this. They could barely see anything, between the light flares and glow sticks, and she was quickly losing any interest in being in this place. Something had to be done, to remedy the situation.

"Alright, you know what? I think it's time for a change of scenery," she stood. "I'm going to find myself a better seat. Anyone want to come with?"

"Can you do that?" Marley asked hesitantly.

"Hey, I paid good money for these tickets…"

"You didn't pay anything," Jake reminded her.

"Regardless, I am going down there. You can stay here and squint until your eyes stay stuck that way, or you can come along. Who's in?"

"You want to go?" Jake asked Marley. She looked like she wanted to, even though she shouldn't.

"Maybe, I don't know. It is pretty high," she smiled at him.

"Then let's go," he stood and offered his hand. She took it, and they got up. "Ryder, you coming?"

"Alright, sure," he stood.

"Let's make it quick," Kitty ushered them out.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	8. Roads Meeting At The Pass

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Rock the Night Away"**

**8. Roads Meeting at the Pass**

Santana had dispatched her to get them food, on the excuse that she wanted to check out Mercedes' new boyfriend, see if he was good for her or not. Either way, she had gone out to run her errand. Finding impossible lineups, she had gone seeking another of the restaurants, hoping to find a shorter wait.

Instead she found her ex.

"Heard you were here," Quinn smirked as she stopped in next to Puck, who was reorganizing the boxes. When he saw her, he looked momentarily stunned before he came to his senses again and opened his arm out as though to ask 'hug?' She laughed and welcomed the embrace. "Please tell me this isn't all for you."

"I'm watching my figure," he joked. "Also I think Sam might have forgotten about me."

"Sorry," she told him with a sympathetic smile.

"It's fine. He's not the first," he nodded back to the counter. Quinn turned, seeing one of the new Glee Club kids, Unique, standing next to one of the lines, talking to the vendor while he served other customers. Both Unique and the boy were smiling, laughing… Quinn had a smile of her own. "I don't think she's going back to the concert."

"No, don't think so," Quinn agreed, turning back to him. "So do you want a hand?"

"I got it," he assured her, starting to pick up the rearranged boxes.

"Do you?" she crossed her arms. "Alright, go for it," she stood back. He had them up for all of two seconds before they started to slip and she moved to intercede. Now all four of their hands were keeping the boxes from spilling. "So…"

"Maybe I can wait a minute or two, maybe the lines were really long over there," he played it off as they set the boxes back down.

"Or…" she sighed and picked up half the load. "Come on."

"I can do it, Quinn, get in line," he insisted, but she was already leaving.

"You're going to have to walk in front, I don't know where you guys are," she called to him, forcing him to follow.

"Well you haven't lost your touch," he told her and she stared back at him. "I meant that as a compliment."

"Right." As they went, she looked to him. "Also heard you've been hanging around Lima again. Is that permanent, or…"

"Why, do you miss me?" he smirked.

"Yes," she told him, holding a beat to see the surprised the look on his face. "You, and everyone else, too."

"Oh," he blinked.

"I like being on my own, away from… certain memories. I get to be myself more, I get to figure it out…" she specified. "But some days I could do with sitting in Glee Club, listening to Mr. Schue and his latest homework assignment."

"Believe it or not, I know exactly what you mean."

Puck had led her up to where their group was seated. The surprise of finding Quinn there had led to a few of them coming up to say hello. Standing back, Puck had noticed a few noted absences.

"Hey, Joe, where'd they go?" he pointed to the seats that should have held Jake, Ryder, Kitty, and Marley.

"Heard them say they'd go looking for better seats somewhere."

"Damn it," Puck frowned before turning back to find Quinn was heading out again, so he followed her.

On the way back to the restaurant they'd run into Sam, who had expected to have something to carry back. Unique had informed him that it was already taken care of. He and Quinn had a brief chat while Puck texted Jake, asking where he was.

"Everything alright?" Quinn asked when she returned to wait in line.

"Yeah, it's fine," he told her, though he still waited to hear back from his brother.

"You know, we barely get to see each other anymore, but I seem to be hearing a lot about you these days," she told him.

"Is that good or bad?" he asked, having long learned to be cautious around Quinn when she had that look in her eyes.

"Heard you and Kitty had yourselves a good time at the Sadie Hawkins dance."

"Oh, that," he scratched at the back of his neck.

"What is she, sixteen?"

"Hey, it's not like I'm some creepy old dude," he defended himself.

"It's still illegal, pretty sure."

"It's no big deal, I swear," Puck frowned.

"Does she know that? You might want to make sure."

"Seriously?"

"If you don't want a repeater of what happened with us…" she pointed out, and she swore she could see the color drain out of his face for a few seconds.

"Why do you have to put that in my head?"

"Because someone has to. Still looking out for you," she smiled at him. He looked to his phone. Jake had replied, letting him know where they were.

"I should go find Jake before those guys get lost."

"Good talk," she told him with a nod. He looked at her, hesitating. He still thought about her all the time, it was hard not to, after everything in the last few years, the pregnancy and Beth… He had a different relationship with her than with anyone else, that was normal. Some days when he did think about her he wished they could be back in those days when she was living at his house. It was all right in those complicated times, dealing with their impending parenthood, but they were some of his best days, too. He hoped that she knew that.

"See you around," he told her, heading off in search of his brother and his friends.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	9. A Rite of Passage

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Rock the Night Away"**

**9. A Rite of Passage**

Artie had quickly seen the issue with his being at this concert. He couldn't see the stage, as much as he tried. It didn't matter that everyone had seats, because they weren't in them half the time. They'd be on their feet, and then he had no hope of seeing a thing, because he couldn't do the same as them. It was hard to get the others to notice when they were busy enjoying the concert. Either way he didn't want to bother them with this.

"Oh no!" Sugar exclaimed all of a sudden.

"What's wrong?" he asked when he saw her dive down to try and look under the seats.

"One of my bracelets rolled off!" she told him, trying to find it. He looked down, too, in case he could find it. He did: in his lap.

"Sugar?" he called to her, holding it up. She gasped, taking it.

"Thank you, Artie, you saved my life!"

"Well I wouldn't go that far," he smirked, though he felt proud all of a sudden.

"I have an idea!" she stood back up all at once, which startled him. "Finn, help me for a second?" she grabbed him from the row in front of them.

x

Mercedes had left the lineup the new owner of a handful of t-shirts. She had one for everyone, her personal gift to them. When she returned to her section, everyone was on their feet, moving to the music, which complicated getting back to her seat, but once she managed it there was Tony with that smile, and she could forget everything else.

"Glad you're back," he breathed.

"What'd she say to you?" Mercedes frowned, glaring at Santana, who saw nothing.

"It's fine, she just had… questions."

"I cannot leave her alone for five seconds," she shook her head.

"No, really, I don't mind," he chuckled. "She just cares about you. And I think I passed the test."

"No surprise there," she beamed and he kissed her.

The day she'd met him, she'd heard his voice before she'd ever seen him. He was funny, and she'd found it so easy to talk to him, so much so that she'd almost missed her appointment. By the time she had seen him in person, she already knew about where he was from – Georgia – how old he was – twenty – and that he had done musicals in high school. She'd told him about being from Lima, and how she'd come here to be a singer. She'd even told him about the video, the one that Sam had posted. When he told her he'd seen it, that he remembered it, she didn't believe him. But then he'd described it, telling her that he had been stunned by her, and she knew he was telling the truth.

And when she had seen him, the feeling she'd gotten already from speaking alone had been paired with finding him to be mystifyingly halfway between hot and cute. It was impossible to decide which he was, she would tell her friends, but it didn't matter. When she saw the way his eyes lit up at the sight of her, she was a goner.

They had chosen to take things slow, as much as they could. They had started off as friends, had been for some time, and then she'd gone home to help with McKinley's production of Grease. If it was true that distance made the heart grow fonder, then Tony was plenty fond when she returned. The first words out of his mouth had been 'will you go out with me?' And the rest had been like heaven.

When Santana had made the offer for the concert, she'd decided this would be the perfect time for her to introduce him to at least a few of her friends from Lima. But now apparently it wasn't just Santana, Quinn, and Mike that she had to worry about.

"You didn't happen to see if there was a line for the men's room?" he asked her.

"It was like a third of the length for the ladies' room, I think you're fine," she smirked.

"Alright, well in that case…" he headed off and she watched him go. As soon as he was gone, there was Santana at her side.

"Way to trade up there," she commented.

"What did you say to him?" Mercedes had to ask. She could claim to trust her all she wanted, she'd known Santana for too long.

"Nothing!" the girl insisted. "I didn't have to. You've got yourself an actual southern gentleman, if you let him out of your sight, I'll… Okay, you don't have to worry about me personally," she realized her 'threat' was running on empty. "But there are plenty of other girls in this world who will pounce on that guy the second he looks unattached."

"Is that supposed to worry me?"

"Probably not, he doesn't look like the wandering type, but he is a guy. Little Tony might have other plans." Mercedes shouldn't have chuckled, but she couldn't help herself. "Okay, if that still makes you giggle, maybe he will get away from you."

"It's nothing like that," Mercedes promised.

"Then what is it?" Santana asked.

"Little Tony?" she repeated, giving Santana a look, and if the cheerleader had been drinking she might have choked.

"Well done, Mercedes Jones," she threw her arm around her shoulders, and Mercedes laughed.

"What'd I miss?" They looked up to find Quinn had returned.

"I'll tell you later," Santana told her, which got her a glare from Mercedes. "Trust me, you've got the bragging rights, use them." At their side, Mike wasn't sure how to respond to the conversation he was overhearing, so he decided to be very quiet and focus on the concert.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	10. Time Come & Time Gone (repost)

_**A/N: Having issues getting this chapter to show up. If it appears twice in a row shortly or something, I apologize and I will fix it ASAP.**_

* * *

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Rock the Night Away"**

**10. Time Come & Time Gone**

Artie had no idea where Sugar was taking him, except that her instructions were specifically to 'look very handicapable.' He had no idea what to do with that, but he would play along as best he could. He'd been spending more and more time with her lately, and he felt maybe some time more wouldn't be half bad.

He was more concerned with his being led off somewhere he didn't know. Sugar still wouldn't tell him, and after a while he started to wonder. "Are you lost?"

"I can't be lost," she replied, and he started to calm down. "There's more than one way to get there, and I will find one," she went on, and now he felt his stomach churn all over again.

"We're missing the concert," he reminded.

"It'll be worth it," was her defense.

X

They'd split up, the four of them. They weren't too far off from each other, could still see each other. Jake had suggested it; that way they had more chances of finding a cluster of empty seats. Kitty went along with it immediately, and he followed in this. As for Marley, she was saying yes with her voice, but her eyes didn't look as sure. Still they went, scouring from different stairways.

He tried not to check on her. He knew it was perfectly reasonable, as friends, but then there was the other thing. There was the 'We came so close to being boyfriend and girlfriend, but I missed my shot' thing, a hop and a skip away from the 'You're dating my best friend, and I can't interfere' thing, and forever in the service of the 'But the feelings don't just go away' mega… thing.

He would have wanted nothing more than to be able to move on, to find some other girl who can make him feel the way Marley did, but so far, if she existed, he hadn't found her. So in the meantime he remained at the mercy of the way he felt, and seeing her… sitting next to him, or smiling, or laughing, or dancing, or singing, or kissing… someone else.

She still had the same effect on him she'd had the first time he'd seen her, the first time they'd talked, stronger even. How was he supposed to ignore the feeling he got every time his eyes found her, every time he caught the sound of her voice? It was all there, and he hated to think what he would have done if she'd been going out with some random guy instead of Jake.

"Hey, you want to watch where you're going?" a voice cut through his thoughts.

"Oh sorry, I…" he turned, but then he saw it had been Kitty who'd called him out. "Hey, I just…"

"You just almost tripped over your feet and face planted down into the floor seats," she pointed at the rail just a few steps down from him.

"Right. Did you find seats?" he asked, scratching at the back of his head.

"No, not yet," she frowned, looking around. "Neither did she," she went on, and he knew he'd caught her looking.

"Okay, seriously, I mean I'm starting to come around on her, but there's only so much I can take of all you boys fawning over her," Kitty cut in.

"It's complicated," he insisted.

"It always is," she shook her head.

"It's not like I'll ever do anything about it," he tried to look for seats instead of entertaining Kitty any further. She wasn't bothered.

"No, but you want to. What happens if they break up, which you know they will? Still going to play keep away, or are you going to jump in for a go?"

"Stop," he told her, and she held up her hands in surrender. "I will say just one more thing," she spoke after a beat, and he looked at her, ready to take whatever she threw at him. "I think it's pretty honorable what you're doing." He blinked, not having expected a compliment from her.

"Thanks?"

"Hell if you were my type I would have been all up for the whole white knight thing," she gestured at him and he shook his head, turning to move away from her – he should have known better. "Ryder, wait."

"I'm not listening to you, Kitty, so you j…"

He was cut off when her hand landed on his shoulder and pushed down hard, making him fall on the steps more than crouch, which was what she was doing.

"What are you…" he was shaken, not having expected the sudden drop and feeling the steps digging in his back.

"Stay down, I mean it," she told him, pointing across the section of seats. He sat up just enough that he could see the other side.

There was some sort of security guard type standing in the next stairway over, the one where Marley stood. He had called her up, and standing in front of him, she looked like a deer caught in headlights, which told them it would probably have been triggered by the man asking to see her ticket. Jake had crossed over to join them, and Ryder couldn't hear what they were saying, with the music so loud, but the next thing he knew, Jake had grabbed Marley's hand and pulled her away. They were running, and the man ran after them. Ryder made to stand, but Kitty stopped him again.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm going to help them," he pointed to where they'd run off to.

"By getting yourself in trouble, too. For a white knight, you're not too bright," she tilted her head. He frowned and trailed up the steps anyway. "Fine, be that way!" she called after him. She looked around at where she stood. "One seat. I can do that," she told herself.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	11. Some Would Say Valiant

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Rock the Night Away"**

**11. Some Would Say Valiant**

When he would come home for the weekend, she couldn't help but feel a thrill. She would be glad when he'd be back home for good, but for now, these reunions were some of her best days.

He had come back late that afternoon, and when she'd arrived, there he was to surprise her. They'd had dinner, and they'd decided to settle in for a movie afterward. She would rest her head on his shoulder, he'd wrap his arm around hers, and everything would be perfect.

She hadn't realized she'd started to doze off until the phone rang and she was startled.

"I'm awake! I…" she frowned, trying to knock sleep out of her.

"Hello?" Will smiled at her while he answered. But then his face changed. "Ryder? What's wrong?"

"Ryder?" Emma repeated, sitting up. Will listened, then nodded.

"Yeah, sure, I'm on my way." He hung up and turned to her.

"What is it? Is someone hurt?" Emma asked, briefly panicking.

"The kids went up to a concert, all of them together," he started to explain.

"Yeah, I think I heard a couple of them mentioning it."

"Some of them tried to go and find seats closer to the stage, Marley got caught, Jake and her ran off. Now they're being kept there until someone can come pick them up, Ryder didn't know how to reach their parents, although I think it's more that he didn't want to have to call them."

"So he called you," Emma nodded, getting up. "We can get there sooner if we go now."

"You don't have to come, you're tired," he insisted.

"It's alright," she told him. "Go get your shoes on."

So they had gotten into the car and driven off. This wasn't exactly the evening he had in mind for them, but they were both used to the unexpected. He thought she might fall asleep at some point, but so far she was holding up fine.

"They'll be fine," she said, seeing the look on his face.

"Yeah, I'm sure," he bowed his head.

"I know you worry about them, that's normal, that's good," she smiled at him.

"You worry about them, too."

"What don't I worry about," she shook her head. "The kids, the wedding, you… all over there on your own," she looked at him.

"Every day passed is one day less, right?" he promised her and she nodded.

Some days were harder though, and as much as they tried to stay honest with each other about it, there were some parts she didn't feel she could or should tell him about. If she did, it might make him decide to abandon everything he'd done so far and come back to her, and she didn't want to put that on him.

But there were so many things happening at once, and he wasn't there to help see her through it. She could be alright with that on some sides, but then there were the others, and she'd had her fair share of anxieties to deal with before. This was yet more of it and her shoulders felt too weak to carry all of it sometimes. She tried to stay in control, because she had to be.

"You know, I'll be so happy to be back in Lima for good, with you, with the Glee Club, but with you most of all," he gave her that smile of his, and the worries would fold back.

"Neither can I," she smiled back to him, and that was the truth. It had forced her to realize just how much she loved him. It hurt to not be around him some days, physically hurt. She had never felt that way about anyone else before. Some days it was bad enough to make her consider leaving everything behind and going after him. It wouldn't last, and eventually she'd remember the reasons why she hadn't followed him, but there would be those moments, feeling his absence more than in others.

"After we've taken care of this, I'm taking you back home, and then it'll be just you and me for the weekend," he vowed.

He wouldn't have made it through all of it if he didn't know he had Emma to get back to. Sometimes he'd think about what it would have been like, if this opportunity had come to him back when he was with Terri. Would she have made him feel guilty for wanting to go, the same for this night, when he'd been called to go 'rescue' a couple of them. Emma understood how important those kids were to him. They were just as important to her, and maybe that factored into it, but even if she wasn't their guidance counselor, he knew she would have been just as ready to drop everything and go as she'd been that night.

"Some days I don't know if I've told you enough how grateful I am," he spoke his thought aloud.

"Grateful for what?" she asked.

"For you," he smiled to himself before looking at her, seeing that love in her eyes. She knew.

X

Puck had gone looking for his brother and the rest of them, but they were nowhere to be seen, not where he'd said they'd be. He called Jake's cell and got nothing. The only other number he had was Ryder's, so he'd tried him.

When he'd told him about what had happened, he had two choices. He could go and try to bust his brother and Marley out of there, but Ryder told him he'd already called Mr. Schuester, who was on his way. For his brother's sake, he'd decided to let Schue take this one. In the meantime, he had a straggler to locate, while trying not to let Quinn's words get to him.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	12. This Is Not Most Days

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Rock the Night Away"**

**12. This Is Not Most Days**

When he'd finally figured out what it was Sugar had in mind, he wasn't on board, not entirely, and he reached down to stop his chair.

"We're almost there," she promised.

"Sugar, are we going where I think we're going?" Her smile spiked. "How do you expect us to…"

"How do you think?" she tapped his wheel with her shoe.

"We can't do that, I'm not going to use being in this chair to get us things."

"And I wouldn't ask if it was for… a cookie, or to cut in line or anything. But this is bigger than that. How many chances are we going to get to meet stars?" she grinned. "You can make an exception for a special occasion… and for me?" she asked innocently.

The crazy thing was, though he'd never admit it out loud, she wasn't exactly wrong. It wouldn't have taken much for her to convince him. Sugar Motta could be a lot to handle, but he was up to the task, especially for something like this.

"Okay, just remember, if you're going to lie, stay as close to the truth as you can."

"What does that mean?" Sugar frowned.

"It means I'm not 'sick' or 'dying,' just… let the chair do the work."

"Got it," she nodded attentively.

"And no pushing too hard," he added.

"Don't worry, Artie, I can be gentle," she returned to push his chair.

"I meant with them, not me," he clarified.

So he had let her push him up to where they could see some guards standing by. Artie looked over his shoulder at her, and she gave him a nod: 'got this.'

"Sorry, excuse me?" she called to one of them, the most friendly-looking she could find.

"Hold up, can't go through there," he held up his hands.

"Oh, we know, it's just…" she pushed an inch forward. "We were hoping maybe we could see how it works back there."

"We're… in Glee Club," Artie volunteered, hoping she'd take the lead.

"That's right, we are. So we're really into music, performing, all of it, and Artie here…" He raised his hand as a hello. "He's a great director, in his prime, he could be one of the big ones someday, determined despite his… well…" she looked down for a moment, remembering his instructions. "The point is…"

"The point is we would really appreciate if we could…"

"Alright, alright," the man held up his hand again. "I should just turn you around, tell you back to your seats, but… I guess I can ask." Sugar and Artie smirked. "You're getting me on a good day, just don't get too excited yet, alright? I'm not promising anything."

"Thank you, sir," Artie bowed his head. "We understand." They watched him head off, pulling out a walkie talkie before he disappeared through a door. Sugar turned to Artie with a squeal. "We're not through yet," he reminded.

"I know, but I'm being optimistic," she raised her chin.

"Optimistic, and generous, too. What you said back there about me…"

"I meant it," she told him with a smile. "Why wouldn't I? It's true."

"I don't know…"

"Why would I lie? I said it because it might be the thing to get us through that door," she explained.

"I could have said some things about you, too." She was surprised, curious.

"You could?" she asked.

"Well, to tell you the truth, when you first wanted to join us, I had… some doubts," he admitted. "But, since then, you've shown us that we could be wrong. You showed that to me, too. You're part of us, and that's how it's supposed to be." She smiled, crouching to put her arms around him.

"Thanks, Artie."

"Had to say it," he looked to her, swearing she was fighting not to cry. He wondered if she had ever really heard it, but he could tell she'd been needing to hear it.

While they waited, they had both received texts from friends who were looking for them, mentioning something about Jake and Marley, then Mr. Schuester.

"Should we go back?" Artie asked her.

"No way, what if he comes back to take us backstage and we're gone?" Sugar pointed out.

"Okay, then we'll wait," he agreed.

Five minutes stretched by, and Sugar ended up sat in Artie's lap, tugging the gloves from his hands so she could slip them on to her own hands. He was afraid she might ask if she could 'drive,' but all she did was flex her fingers, turn her hands this way and that. It had become something between them, to have her drop into his lap. He might have minded, but instead he'd gotten used to her. It made sense.

"It's been ten minutes now," she sighed, pulling the gloves off to return them on to Artie's hands. "What if he doesn't come back? What if he's just messing with us?"

"Five more minutes?"

"Eight?"

"And a half?" She laughed.

It was seven more minutes, almost on the dot, before the door was opened and they saw the man's face peering out. Sugar scrambled to her feet, both of them looking to the man anxiously, hoping for a yes.

X

Santana had been all too aware of the boys in the row behind her. They'd been trying to flirt their way into both her good graces and Quinn's as well, to the point where she was considering a play to pretend she was with Mike, or with Quinn herself.

Only somewhere during the show, one of her 'charmers' had accidentally – according to them – dropped his drink down her back. It splashed her with memories of her Slushie days back at McKinley. Quinn and Mercedes had needed to hold her back or she would have pounced at him; he might not have fought her.

Instead she had been forced to stomp off toward the bathroom, hoping she could salvage her shirt.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	13. Breathe In, This Is Living

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Rock the Night Away"**

**13. Breathe In, This Is Living**

She'd been waiting on a song. They hadn't done it yet, and if she missed it she would never get over it. There was only one problem there: she'd downed the entire soda cup Puck and Quinn had brought, and she'd already had coffee on the car ride over. Both of these put together, it added up to one big problem. Brittany needed to go to the bathroom.

"Are you alright?" Sam asked at her side.

"Fine."

"If you need to go to the bathroom…"

"Can't. I'll miss my song."

"You're not going to miss much from up here," Tina piped in from the other side. "The sooner you go, sooner you'll be back."

"I'll text you with the songs," Sam offered. That was all she needed.

"Okay," she dashed off.

X

He was pacing around the tiny room, back and forth, on and on. She sat with her legs pulled in close to herself, cheek pressed to her knees.

"Shouldn't have done it," her voice came out grumbled. He turned to her.

"Which part? The running or…" She lifted her head, staring back at him.

"All of it, the… the lower seats thing. We should have just stayed where we were. At least we would have seen the concert. Instead we're sitting here and we're missing everything," she lowered her head with a sigh. Jake came and sat next to her, reaching so she would give him one of her hands.

"I don't have any regrets," he promised her. She tried not to smile, but she couldn't help it.

"I just… I don't want to give my mother anymore reasons to be stressed."

"This is so not the same thing though. This is the kind of thing we're supposed to do."

"I'm pretty sure the security guards don't think so," she gave him a squint.

"I didn't mean it like that," he chuckled. "I meant we're young, having a good time… When else are we going to be able to get away with stuff like this?"

"Maybe…"

"I'm not saying we should make a habit of it, but think about it. One day you're going to tell this story, and it's going to be a lot better than just 'we got stuck in these really crappy seats, we sat there, we left, the end.' It's done now, there's nothing we can do about it, so just relax," he put his feet up on a chair, leaning back against the wall, waiting for her to do the same. She looked to him, he nodded. 'I'm waiting.' She laughed, but she relented, leaning back and putting her feet up. "There you go," he snaked his arm up around hers, still grasping her hand.

"I guess if I had to choose between sitting way up there and seeing nothing, and sitting here… with you… I'd pick…" She paused, making a good show of 'thinking really hard.'

"Yes?" he smirked.

"Shh," she waved her hand at him. "This is a hard one."

"Pick me, and I'll give you your own concert. Real private, doesn't get any closer than this." She smiled, conceding.

"Alright, game point, Puckerman."

"Any requests?" he asked.

"Surprise me."

Part of her still felt bad for ending up here, although they might not have needed to if Jake hadn't made them run, but then she didn't have to go along with it.

But then maybe he'd been right, they needed to have a little fun once in a while. That hadn't been her thought, not at the very moment. It had been more like 'we could outrun him and be alright.' And then for a while, while they were running, it was kind of… exhilarating, and she'd let it go to her head. That had been flushed right out of her when the guard had caught up to them and marched them to this room.

If she had to be stuck there though, it could have been worse. Jake had started off throwing her a lot of mixed signals, disappointing her what could have been one too many times.

But then he'd actually started to turn things around, he was hitting all the right notes. She still got scared that something would end up going wrong, and she would lose him. She told herself that was a sign, that he really did mean a lot to her, or she wouldn't be so worried about him.

In the end they had remained sitting there side by side. He put his arms around her shoulders, she put her head on his. He would start humming a song, she'd start singing it, and then they'd turn it around. Their night had started off as a group outing between friends, but for them it was turning into the weirdest yet sweetest sort of date she'd ever had. Jake was right; she would remember this night, they'd have a story.

They weren't sure on how much time had passed, not until the door opened and they found Mr. Schuester and Miss Pillsbury waiting on the other side. Marley's awkwardly shy face was back in a flash. They were being let go with no more than a warning, which they understood was a good deal, all things considered. Marley was not sure on apologies, for having forced the pair of them to drive up because of what they'd done. She would have expected him to follow this up with saying he would tell their mothers, or send a letter, or he'd make them tell it themselves. Instead he gave them detention, for an undetermined period of time, their given tasks to be assigned by the Glee Club director, whether that was him or his replacement, which meant Finn.

"Do we have to go with him or can we go back to the concert?" Jake whispered at Marley, who gave him a look and shook her head.

"I wouldn't mention the concert to him if I were you. Besides, I'm pretty sure if it's not over it will be soon."

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	14. Where Has My Heart Gone

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Rock the Night Away"**

**14. Where Has My Heart Gone**

The bathroom was not nearly as crowded now as it had been the last time she'd come in, before the concert started. This was just as well, as she was already not in too good a mood as she pulled off the soda splashed shirt, leaving her standing there in her bra while she tried to salvage the piece of clothing. She was muttering to herself in Spanish as she held it under the faucet when she started hearing something like a hum. It was faint, but in the bathroom sound tended to carry. The notes bounced off the walls, and she froze. She knew someone who hummed when…

She was here, Santana knew, so it wasn't like she was making things up, but what were the odds that, of all the people, of all the possible moments for this to happen, it should be her, in this bathroom, while she was there. Santana looked back into the mirror, but her eyes went to the reflection of the stalls behind her. She could see feet in some of the stalls and, in one of them, a pair of shoes she had personally pulled off a dancer's feet many a time. They were tapping to the rhythm of her humming.

Remembering that she was standing there, half naked, with her shirt in her hands, she tried to do her best and finish washing the thing, in hopes of… of… She didn't know. Did she want to get out of there before Brittany came out and saw her, or did she want to get her shirt taken care of and back on before Brittany came out and saw her? It was borderline stalkerish.

"Santana?"

She paused. In all her attempts to focus on her task and get it done quick, she had been humming, too. Maybe if she didn't say anything she wouldn't…

"Why do you have your shirt off?"

She looked over her shoulder, but the stall door was still shut. Brittany must have been able to see her through the crack of the door. Which also meant…

"Can you all see me?" she frowned at the other stalls.

"Yes," a girl laughed in one stall.

"Oh yeah," another replied, with a tone that told Santana she did not mind at all. She stood up straight, showing she had no shame at all before she got back to her scrubbing.

"Some moron dropped his soda down my back, I'm just trying to clean up," she explained.

"Careful not to ruin the fabric!" said the giggler.

"Why do you need to put it back on?" said the leerer.

"Hey, hey, eyes on your own business, thank you," Santana warned.

Brittany was the first to come out of her stall. She looked better than Santana would have expected, and that was saying something in her case. The blonde came up silently to wash her hands, and then of all the things she could have done, she'd placed her hand on Santana's back. It sent a shock surging up her spine and she startled.

"Sticky," Brittany declared.

"Soda," Santana shrugged. Her ex went to get paper towels and ran them under the water. "Y… You don't have to do that, really I'm…"

"It's fine," Brittany insisted, carefully cleaning off the soda marks. "I was kind of hoping I'd run into you, actually," she confessed.

"You were?" Santana looked at her in the mirror, and Brittany nodded.

"It's so weird that we're all here, me and the Glee Club, you and Quinn and the others, and Rachel and Kurt… I thought that meant we would end up running into each other, and then I could say hello," she smiled. Santana could see a sort of sadness still hiding in the back of her eyes, and she hated to know that she'd been the one to put it there.

Her phone beeped and she looked at it for a moment before putting it back in her pocket. "What's that?"

"It's a phone," Brittany frowned, and Santana sighed. "Oh, you meant… They're texting me which songs are playing so I don't miss mine."

"Yeah, I heart you humming it before," Santana smirked and Brittany laughed.

"It's not on yet," she went to toss out the wet towels and took a dry one to tap lightly at her back. "There, all better," she declared.

"Can't say the same about my shirt, but it'll have to do," she moved to hold it under the hand drier. She thought Brittany would go and head on back to the concert, but instead she'd come to stand by her side. Their hair was fluttering gently in the air, standing so close to the drier, and Santana wasn't sure if the warmth was caused by the machine or by their whole encounter. "Look, I… I'm really glad we ran into each other, I…"

She paused when two flushes one after the other brought the giggler and the leerer out of their stalls. The two girls washed their hands and made their exits, living up to their nicknames up to the very end. Santana half expected the second girl to ask if she could have her number, but she bowed out without a word. Now that it was just the two of them though, just her and Brittany, she almost wished they'd come back. At least with them there it felt like she had a cushion for safety. With just the two of them, she was afraid she'd do something stupid and run Brittany off.

"Why don't you come and finish out the concert with us? I'm sure everyone will be happy to see you, and besides a whole bunch of them disappeared a while ago and they haven't come back."

"I wouldn't want to intrude," Santana shook her head.

"You wouldn't be," Brittany smiled, hopeful. "Please?" her eyes begged. "I really would like it if you were there." Santana's cheeks were flushed, and for once she was glad they were next to the hand drier. It wasn't the thing making her flush, but at least she could blame it. With her shirt as dry as she could hope it to be, she slipped it back on, moved to the mirror to fix herself up, and she turned to the blonde.

"Sure, why not?" she smiled, and in a flash Brittany had a hold of her hand and was pulling her off, out of the room and back to the concert.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	15. We Never Said It Was Right

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Rock the Night Away"**

**15. We Never Said It Was Right**

After a while, sitting there, she could forget them. She'd meant to do this grand gesture, because despite everything, they were her friends. The whole thing had not gone the way she'd hoped it would. So she had tried to fix it, if not for everyone then at least some of them. But then Marley had to get caught, and Jake had to run off with her, and Ryder had to follow them. So now she was on her own… again.

It hadn't taken long for her to find somewhere to sit, now that she was alone. She wouldn't get any better under these circumstances. The people sitting around her didn't seem to give much thought to the girl who'd showed up all of a sudden, and eventually she was too into the concert to think about anything or anyone else.

But then he'd shown up.

"Hey, this is crazy, you look just like this girl I came here with," she heard him and turned.

"Well you just keep on looking, I'm sure you'll find her if you do," she nodded before turning back to look at the band. Puck came to stand at her side. Why hadn't she taken the seat that was on its own? "How'd you find me?"

"I wasn't looking for you. I was looking for my brother. But it turns out he and that Marley girl got snatched for doing… pretty much the same thing you're doing."

"Except I didn't get caught," she pointed out with pride.

"Why didn't you just go back up there with the others?"

"Why would I? Look at where we are," she pointed down to the band.

"Yeah, that's not a bad view," he had to admit.

"You're here now, why would you want to be anywhere else?" Somehow that didn't cheer him up. This wasn't the best place to ask a girl if she was on the pill.

Even if he did ask her, what did he expect to happen? Did he think what they'd had would be repeated? The girl had her qualities, which was saying a lot, considering the track record she had for causing trouble around his friends' lives. He'd been hearing a lot of talk about her, with the title of 'new Quinn' being bandied about, and thinking back to the Quinn he'd known back in the day, he guessed on some levels he could see it, but not in the way most would think. Sure, they were both mean, blonde Cheerios, but if Quinn Fabray had taught him anything, it was that this kind of attitude was an excellent means of covering up something you didn't want the world to see. Whether Kitty's claws were doing the same thing, he couldn't say yet, not with certainty. And yet…

"Because my friends are up there, our friends are up there," he answered her question. She rolled her eyes. "You know, you play a good game, but you're not fooling me," he opened, to see how she would respond.

"I'm not, uh?" she just smirked.

"Not one bit. The way I see it, you're trying to do something, and you can't even tell what it is. You've gotten so good at this cover of yours, it's like sometimes you forget yourself. You're like the kid on the playground who pushes another kid, but really she likes him, except you've got way more powerful ammo. I think you're scared. I think you're terrified."

"Scared about what?" she frowned, though he could see her face as he spoke, like she was working to maintain her face.

"About not having any friends." Her eyes veered away. "I know a lonely girl when I see one." He couldn't see her face, but something in her posture had shifted.

"You know what? I'm getting this real nasty headache from all the noise and the body odor in here. Anyway the concert's almost over. I'm going to go wait at the car," she moved for the stairs.

"Kitty…" he called after her. She didn't turn, but she stopped. "You can't go out there on your own."

"Come after me and we'll find out just who's not safe," she threw at him before heading up and out of sight. He groaned and sat back down. Maybe he should have asked her about the pill first.

X

By the end of the concert, it didn't matter that they were so high and that they couldn't see much. They were having fun, and that was all that mattered. Even Santana, who had traded in a much better seat in order to join Brittany and the others, had been on her feet, dancing along to the music like the rest of them. But now the people were beginning to steer out of their seats and up the stairs.

"That was awesome!" Joe had declared.

"I can't believe the others didn't make it back," Blaine frowned.

"I should probably call my people, they'll be asking themselves the same question," Santana reached for her phone and called Quinn. "No answer."

"Maybe she can't hear it," Tina guessed.

"I don't know. I'll try Mercedes," she dialled. "Hey… Yeah, I know, I ran into Britt in the bathroom, I ended up going up to join her and the others. Is Quinn with you? … Oh. Right. Okay, I'll meet you there," she hung up.

"So where is she?" Brittany asked. Santana shrugged.

"Mercedes said Quinn went off and she'd meet us at the car."

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	16. Even As I Close My Eyes

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Rock the Night Away"**

**16. Even As I Close My Eyes**

They had sent Brody to see about the car, but as much as they'd done it to free themselves to maybe go and see their friends, it was hard not to think about what that might mean.

"I know you want to see him," Rachel told Kurt as they stood in the hallways.

"Maybe," he was being much too evasive for her not to see through it and she smiled.

"When I told you Finn had come to see me, you had that look in your eyes, like maybe you wished it had been you who'd gotten a visitor."

"You're making it sound like…" he defended, but she stopped him and moved to face him.

"Go, you could catch him before they leave. Even if it's just for a minute, even if it's just to say hello." He was hesitating. "Kurt…"

"Okay, fine, if it'll get you to sh… I'll go," he breathed, then looked around.

"It's that way," she pointed, and so he went. She smiled, watching him duck out a door, only to realize now she was on her own… Maybe she should have gone with him, seen some people, too, or…

"Rachel!" She spun around at the sound of her name and was surprised to find Quinn coming her way. There was something jittery about the way she walked, and the closer she got, Rachel could see she was out of breath.

"Hey, I… Did you run here?"

"Run? No, I…" she blinked, pushed hair from her eyes. "You wouldn't believe how hard it is to break through these crowds," she nodded.

The crowds had nothing on her. Maybe they didn't part to let her through the way they would for Quinn the head Cheerio, but she wasn't a pushover either. She had spent enough time around football players that some would have said she could break her way through.

But, yes, she had run.

She could have gotten through this whole evening and been perfectly fine. But then she'd had to find out that the Glee Club was here. And then she'd had to find out that Kurt was there, and Rachel was there. She'd tried not to think about it, about her, because why would she have to?

Back at McKinley, Rachel had been impossible to avoid, and that had made it easy to count her as an inevitable fact of her life, something fixed. No matter what would happen, she would be there, they would all be there. It was only as she'd had to face the fact that they would soon go their separate ways that things had been forced into the light that she'd kept in the dark for much too long.

The separation had occurred, because it had to. Rachel had been claimed to the bustling history of New York City, but Quinn had her own path to dig, and maybe she would understand at last what her life was supposed to be. She'd spent so long searching for it, made enough errors along the way for herself and then some.

She'd forgotten what it felt like to be standing in the presence of Rachel Berry, and even as she sat in her seat, knowing that Rachel was out of sight in her own section, all she really had to know was that she was around and she'd get some kind of… contact high. Now here they were, and she had no idea what she was supposed to say, because she wasn't even really sure why she'd felt the need to seek her out, now, as she was about to leave.

"Did you enjoy the concert?" were the next words out of her mouth. She was about as satisfied about them as Rachel was.

"You came all this way to ask me if I enjoyed the concert?"

"I don't know, maybe?" Quinn shrugged, looking around and wishing she hadn't said those words, or any other words, wishing she hadn't run over if it meant acting like an idiot.

"What's going on, do you need to talk? Is everything alright? Is it school, are you not doing well?" Seeing her so concerned, Quinn saw the Rachel she had known at McKinley, Rachel the unstoppable, Rachel the unexpected friend, Rachel… She smiled, shaking her head.

"School is fine. Actually school is more than fine, really."

"Well if it's not school, then…"

"I don't know, Rachel… Okay? I don't know. I guess I just… missed you."

"You're the one who got a pass so you could come and visit, and got me one, too, so I could do the same. You haven't really used it, so…"

"Neither did you," Quinn pointed out.

"Things have been busy," Rachel defended herself. "I've had classes, auditions…"

"And… Brody," Quinn filled in for her. Rachel didn't reply. "You're right, I didn't come either. That's on me. My schedule has been hectic, too. But I will do better to free up some time, if you'd be interested. You could show me New York, now that you've had time to fulfill your destiny and become a proper New Yorker." Rachel laughed.

"I don't know about that, but I could give it a shot. And I've always wanted to see what it's like at Yale, one of those big schools, you know?" she admitted.

"I'll give you the grand tour," Quinn offered.

"That'd be great," Rachel smiled, and silence settled back in. "We'll figure this out."

"I think we will," Quinn agreed. After a beat, Rachel had moved up to hug her, and Quinn had returned it, holding on to the girl for a moment. Maybe she didn't understand some things still, but she was a smart girl; she would figure it out.

X

"Where have you guys been?" Sam asked as he saw Sugar pushing Artie toward the rest of them.

"You would not believe the things we've seen!" Sugar proclaimed.

"We went backstage," Artie grinned. Sam, Brittany, and Unique all gasped.

"No way, how'd you manage that?" Unique asked.

"Well what about you?" Sam turned to her. "You never came back either."

"A lady never tells," she lifted her finger in the air.

Ryder and Joe had come to find Kitty sitting in her car, the radio blaring loudly. When they'd knocked on her window for the third time, she finally rolled it down.

"What do you want?"

"Can we ride with you on the way back?" Ryder asked.

"What's wrong with the dude car?" she asked, looking past them for a moment before looking back to them. Ryder looked over his shoulder to see Puck getting into the aforementioned 'dude car.'

"Nothing, just we figured it'd be less cramped here," Joe explained.

"Fine, but who's going to play the deer on the roof, because I'm already running near full occupancy here."

"You didn't hear? Jake and Marley already left with Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury," Ryder revealed.

"They did what?" Kitty snapped, and the boys startled.

"Maybe we should go back to…" Joe pointed to the other car.

"Oh, just get in," Kitty grunted, and the boys didn't argue.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	17. Didn't We Almost Have It All

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Rock the Night Away"**

**17. Didn't We Almost Have It All**

The debate was on as to who might ride back with Finn, Sam, and Puck, now that two spots had opened up in their car. As much fun as the ride up to the concert had been with all five of them, it was a tight fit, so losing one might have helped. All three of the girls wanted to repeat their sing along, which left it on to Artie and Blaine. Artie wasn't so sure his chair would fit in the other car, and as much as Brittany would suggest otherwise, he wouldn't let them ride off with it while he joined the boys.

"Fine, I'll go," Blaine had finally offered.

"We'll sing one for you!" he heard Sugar call out as he turned to go find the guys. He'd just spotted the car when he thought he heard his name, and a familiar voice.

"Blaine!" That was him, he knew it, and when he turned and saw him jogging over, he felt his heart go into a rapid beat.

"Hey…" he felt his cheeks rise into a smile. "What are you doing here? I mean I thought you and Rachel…"

"No, I know, I'm going back to meet them at the car, it's just…" he took a breath, "You're here, and I didn't want to leave without at least seeing you, saying hello…"

"I'm glad you did," Blaine couldn't take his eyes off of him, no matter how painful it could be to look at him nowadays, ever since he had cheated on him… There was something simply gone from Kurt's eyes. He didn't look at Blaine the way he used to, and as upset as that could make him, the reminder would always be there: he'd done this, he'd cheated. Kurt had every right to look at him that way. It was something at least that he would still speak to him, and to know that he had come to seek him out, that… that had meant the world. He didn't want to get too hopeful on anything, but then there was his heart, who didn't pay any mind to cautious hope and just ran in with abandon.

"How was the concert? Did you have fun?" Kurt asked, and Blaine tried not to show himself so disappointed at the cursory questions.

"Good, it was good," he nodded. "Although we were so high up there, it was hard to see much. And there was a lot of running around, some people never came back…" he explained, then paused, looking at Kurt standing in front of him. There was so much he wanted to say, but he didn't even know where to begin without coming off like a babbling idiot. "Right now I'm being traded over to the guys' car," he pointed.

"The guys' car?" Kurt looked.

"Finn, Puck, Sam… There were five of us in the car before, and now that space opened elsewhere…" He knew it was too much to hope for Kurt to offer to give him a ride, seeing as they were headed in opposite directions, but he did look at him like maybe he would.

"Oh, right," Kurt nodded. Was he searching for something to say as much as Blaine was? It didn't use to be like this, they could go on and on, sometimes so much that they didn't need to finish sentences for the other to reply. There seemed to be more distance between them in this way than when he was in Lima and Kurt was off in New York. "Look…" he had spoken, and Blaine looked to him.

"Yes?" Kurt breathed out.

"Don't read more into it than what it is, but are you doing Friday in three weeks, are you busy?"

"No, I… I don't think so." Barring any emergencies, if anything did come along, he would still choose Kurt's yet-to-be-made offer. "Why?"

"There's this Vogue thing I'm supposed to go to, I can bring a guest, and I always take Rachel because… Well, who else?" he shrugged. "But I thought maybe you'd like to be my plus one this time. I… I'll pay to get you to New York, you can crash at our place for the night…"

"Sure, I'd love to," Blaine's smile could not be controlled. "But I'll pay for the travel, really. Thank you." Kurt nodded, moving up to briefly hug him. Blaine took in as much of the moment as he could, knowing he'd have to let him go when he pulled away.

"I'll e-mail you the details when I get back," Kurt promised as they stood back.

"Right," Blaine nodded, and Kurt started heading off, holding up his hand in a goodbye. Blaine watched him go for a moment, but then… "Hey, Kurt?" He turned back.

"Yeah?"

"Did you enjoy the concert?" he smirked, and Kurt did as well, as much as he tried to hide it.

"Some parts better than others," he answered before going off to find Rachel and Brody.

Blaine went off and joined the guys, explaining the passenger shuffle. They welcomed him to the fold, offering him to sit out front.

They were the second car out. Kitty's car had peeled out of there about as soon as the last of her three passengers had come in and shut the door. The third of the cars bound back for Lima was lagging.

"Can we go now?" Sugar asked Tina, who had been the one to hold off their departure.

She had seen Kurt run up to Blaine, seen them talk, and smile, and embrace, and as much as she didn't think she should expect anything of the sort, part of her had hoped she would see someone come and run for her. But there was no one.

"Yeah, sure," she sighed, and they drove away.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	18. If You Saw Me As I Saw You

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Rock the Night Away"**

**18. If You Saw Me As I See You**

She'd stopped the car and made Unique get in the backseat after she'd gotten her fill of seeing her texting and smiling away at her phone.

"You," she'd turned to Joe. "Will you sit here quietly and not make me roll my eyes until I crash us into a wall?" He sat up and gave a nod. "You're hired, get up here." While the shuffle was happening, Kitty could see Ryder also on his phone. "Dare I ask?" He looked up.

"Marley," he revealed. "She says she and Jake got home alright and t…"

"Don't care," Kitty turned back to look ahead as the doors were shut. They were homebound once more.

Joe was more than at ease to keep quiet if that was what she wanted. If it meant sitting next to her, then that was a fair trade off.

Kitty Wilde was about equal parts a perfect match and a terrible idea. On paper at least, they had a lot in common, but then there was her… attitude, the way she could treat the rest of them in Glee Club and at school. She had taken jabs at him personally a number of times.

And still he was growing more and more infatuated with her every day.

It wasn't just a matter of faith, although there was that as well. With a smile as guarded as hers, it was hard to see at times. But when she did show it, while others were put off or frightened, he was kind of… fascinated. She could be strong, and he liked that about her.

Sometimes he wished he could tell her all of this, to see if maybe, just maybe, there could ever be something else between them. He had his own kind of strength, though whether this would aid him when faced up against someone like Kitty…

It was more than strength though, and he knew. There was this other girl inside, one he was only just beginning to see emerge. She kept her even more guarded than her smile, and he had no idea why. But if that was who she needed to be, then who was he to interfere or tell her how to live her life? He just wished she could notice him sometimes.

"Do I have something on my face?" she snapped all of a sudden, and he looked over, his dreads just barely missing her face. "I didn't say 'put something on my face!'" she yelled, gripping the wheel. "Are you trying to get us killed?"

"Hey, easy, it was an accident," Ryder spoke up from the back.

"Shut it, Boy Wonder," Kitty glared at him in mirror.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you," Joe promised, pulling his hair back.

"You were looking at me," she frowned.

"What? No, I…"

"I can see those things on your head move out of the corner of my eye every time you turn your head," she revealed, and he turned his eyes down. She was right, he had been sneaking a look from time to time. He had no poker face at all, sometimes if he was in the same room as the person or the thing that he was thinking about, his eyes would go and find them, and he didn't even realize it. And then she had to go and catch him in the act.

"I didn't mean to…"

"Do you mean to do anything?" she frowned. "That's the second one in as many minutes," she pointed out. What was he supposed to say?

"I guess I…"

"Now you're guessing," she cut him off. She was in a bad mood about something. He hadn't picked up on it at first; he'd just thought it was Kitty being Kitty, but there was something else there. She was upset about something, and he didn't think it had anything to do with him.

"I'm sorry, never mind," he turned to look out the window. He didn't know how to talk to her, and so long as that was the case, how could he expect to get anywhere?

For a few minutes, all they could hear was the car, then the light tapping of fingers on phones in the backseat. Joe looked out to the road outside his window, the other cars passing by. A boy sleeping in the back of his mother's car, a car full of energized girls, a dog sticking his head out of the back window…

In the dead silence of the car, the unexpected first twinkling of music coming through the speakers caught them all by surprise. He hadn't even noticed the iPod connected into the radio. He looked up to her. Kitty was looking up at the road already, almost like she didn't want to look at him when he realized she'd put the music on. Was she doing it for him? To make up for having snapped at him? No, why would she? She didn't owe him anything, or at least he didn't see it that way. He was probably overthinking it, deluding himself. But just in case, if that was what she was doing, and if she could still see him, then he smiled.

X

Mike had split off from their car's group at a bus station, and Mercedes and Tony had dropped both Quinn and Santana off in New Haven; Santana would find her own way back.

"So, happy I managed to pull you out of here for one night?" she asked.

"You act like you had to twist my arm," Quinn frowned and smirked.

"Feels like I had to twist something alright," Santana stared.

"Just hug me and say 'good to see you' and go, like a normal person?" Quinn hugged her.

"At least tell me you had a good time?" She let out a breath.

"It was… surprising."

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	19. Moving On, Growing Up

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Rock the Night Away"**

**19. Moving On, Growing Up**

Unique had not even noticed that Kitty had not yet dropped her off at home, even though it would have been logical for her to go first. Instead she had dropped off Joe and Ryder, keeping Unique there in the car until the end. She had not noticed, instead too busy messaging with Tommy. It was only once the car had stopped and Kitty had actually come around and opened the door for her to get out that she saw she was home. The blonde was gone as fast as she could, not giving one word of farewell. Unique shook her head and went inside.

X

Sugar had dropped off Artie first, thanking him greatly for his following along on the backstage plan. He was all smiles, none more than when she closed out the evening by planting a kiss on him before dashing back to her car.

After this, with only herself, Brittany, and Tina left in the car, Sugar had declared an impromptu sleepover back at her house, the better to carry on this party they'd had going in the car. Tina was hesitant at first, but they had convinced her in the end.

X

The ride in the guys' car had not been too bad in the end, as far as Blaine could tell, although maybe it was only a matter of how his mind was elsewhere for the length of the ride. He was still thinking about his talk with Kurt in the parking lot. They still had so much trouble not being awkward around each other, but he hoped that this hand Kurt had extended to him with this 'plus one' invitation could mean things would improve.

X

When they'd arrived back to the apartment, Kurt had said something about going to get a late snack before making a prompt exit. She wasn't entirely sure if that was the truth or if he just didn't want to be around her and Brody at the moment. It wasn't like they'd be doing anything he needed to hide from, not now, but she wasn't going to argue against a little alone time with Brody. He'd done a really nice thing for both her and Kurt, and she'd had a really good time with them. There had been surprises along the way, but those had been just as nice.

It had felt odd still, showing up there with him and running into her old friends, who would see her with him. They were all going off down their separate paths now, and even though there would come certain events that pulled them all back together, it didn't change the fact that many of them had graduated, started new lives… They may have been together, but it was not the same as it had once been at all.

Having Brody there had made it that much more real. He was part of her life now, an important part of her life, and it was right that he should be there. She didn't know if this thing with them would be long lasting, they were still not too clear on the limits. But she liked having him there now, so that was what mattered. He was a part of her brand new life, a representation of it in a way.

There was so much he didn't know about her still, even if she had shared a lot, and there was no telling what he would think or say. He knew this version of her, this new Rachel. What would he have said to the old her, the high school girl, the outcast with the big dreams, sometimes too big if some were to be listened. She made no apology for who she was, but then it was this concept of the then and the now that kept bugging at her. Should it be that important to her, if she didn't even know just how important he would end up being to her? She hadn't told him about her talk with Quinn, or Finn…

But then he'd smile at her, and she would smile back, and she would think there was plenty of time for confessionals and digging into each other's pasts. They'd had a very nice evening together, and she wanted to remember this day that way.

X

Marley had decided that she would tell her mother everything that had happened in the morning. She saw no sense in lying to her. They had both been through enough lately, and in the end the whole thing had not been as bad as it might have seemed earlier. And Jake had been right, when else were they going to do things like this? She hoped her mother saw it that way, too.

When Mr. Schuester and Miss Pillsbury had dropped her off, she could see Jake looking at her from the back, and she tried to be as discreet as possible to signal for him to text her or call her later. He would send her a text when he was dropped off at home as well, and she would reply by thanking him for making the night one that she would remember.

TO BE CONTINUED (TOMORROW)


	20. Words We Meant To Say

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Rock the Night Away"**

**20. Words We Meant To Say**

She wasn't sure what time it was that they'd finally gone to bed and slept, but they woke again in mid-morning, and she eventually got home around lunch. Her parents had looked at her as though there was a secret reason why she had not come home the night before, something shady that might have happened at this concert. She promised them though, the only excess that had might have occurred had been snack sized, back at Sugar's.

It had been one of her best nights in a long time, and she had needed it, just to have fun with a couple of friends and not worry about school, or solos, or solitude.

But their faces had nothing to do with her potential misdeeds at the concert. She figured that out when they walked her to the guest room, opened the door, and she saw the bed was occupied.

"What's he doing here?" she breathed, peering at the sleeping Mike.

He'd arrived in the early morning hours, looking for her, and somehow her parents had found it easier to let him come in and get some sleep until she managed to show up. They had not called or written to her to say he'd be there when she showed up.

After getting her parents to leave, she closed the door, coming to sit by the bed. She looked at him, in what had to be the clothes he wore to the concert. Part of her wanted to just shake him awake, ask what he was doing there, when they had been at the concert not-quite-but-sort-of-together just hours ago. Another part was so utterly relieved and touched to have him come all this way to see her though, and that part wanted to let him sleep.

She didn't get to do either of those things, as Mike slowly woke up, rubbing at his eyes and looking around, only to find her there. "Tina," he blinked.

"What are you doing here?" she turned the question to him, hoping she'd finally get an answer.

"I… came to say hello," he spoke after a moment. She laughed.

"You couldn't do that at the concert?"

"I wanted to. I mean, what were the odds that we'd both be there, that we'd all be there." He sat up.

"So why didn't you?"

"I don't know, maybe it felt too obvious, like I was only doing it because you were there and I was there and it was almost… expected." He looked to her, and she saw that look in there, that one that told her the words he still told her himself so many times, and she got up and paced about.

"Yeah, well, we're broken up, so it's not like…"

"I know we're broken up," he cut her off. "Believe me, I wake up with that reminder every day." She turned back around; now he was the one looking down. So she came back to sit with him again.

"You really came all this way just to say hello?"

"Well, hello, and then maybe 'how are you?' Natural progression, you know?" he shrugged and she smiled.

"Hello," she bowed her head. "And I'm doing okay. Exhausted, but okay," she paused. "How are you?" she turned the question back on to him.

"Yesterday I rode down to meet Quinn, Santana, and Mercedes, we rode to the concert, attended the concert, then drove again, all the way to the bus station, then instead of going home – the new one – I went home – the old one – and I came here. So, rested," he assessed.

"If I'd known you'd be here I would have come home earlier."

"It's alright," he assured her. "I mean you had fun with Sugar and Brittany, right, so…"

"And what comes after 'how are you?'" she asked him. He hesitated.

"I think you know. But do you really want me to say it?"

The room fell quiet again, neither of them having any idea how to proceed from this point without going into topics they didn't particularly want to address. At the very least, she didn't want to talk about it, and he didn't want to force her to talk about it and end up making things worse. There was no way to get around it, not until she was ready to discuss it, whenever that was. He would have hoped she was finally ready, because if she was then maybe they could have touched on the subject he really wanted to get to again, the one that started off around 'I miss you' and went right into 'I need you back.'

"I'm glad you came, Mike, I am," she finally spoke, and he knew what it meant.

"I'm going to stop off and see my parents, while I'm here," he got up. So I'll be there for a while if you…"

"Right," she nodded. They looked to each other, and when neither of them moved, Mike nodded and headed out. Tina let him go, her feet planted there to prevent her from running after him and leaping into his arms. Her heart was at war with itself again, and she couldn't do anything to stop it without getting in the middle. So he left, and she didn't stop him. Maybe someday she could run. Today was not that day.

TO BE CONCLUDED (TOMORROW)


	21. The Song That Never Ends

_**This is a shift day. **There are two updates today._

* * *

**"Rock the Night Away"**

**21. The Song That Never Ends**

Their first day back in the choir room after the concert, they were still talking about it, from what she saw. Will had left Lima again, but he had tasked Emma with going to Finn and explaining about the 'deal' he'd made with Marley and Jake after he'd picked them up. She found the choir room abuzz with talk of what had happened on Friday night. She had not known about the rest of the kids having been there, though there was plenty to hear about it now.

She had known that Ryder had been along with Marley and Jake even if he hadn't been caught, but it had never come up for him to be included into the punishment. But then Emma had discovered Kitty had been there as well – she shouldn't have been surprised – and that she had actually stayed there to enjoy one of those seats. She'd had no choice but to include her into the punishment along with the other two, which had led the blonde to point out Ryder's part in the whole mess, and she'd had no choice but to include him as well.

Only once the guidance counselor had left did Sugar and Artie finally treat them with the tale of their adventure backstage. They had only been there a few minutes until another one of the security people refused to accept that they'd been allowed through and they'd ended up having to get back out again, but those minutes they did have had been more than enough. They had been closer to the action than any of the others, and those bragging rights were good and plenty for them.

In the end it was not so much the concert itself they had stories about. It was the people they saw, the people they talked to and the things they said, more than the actual music. They could have been right there in the front row, with the band so close they could see the sweat on their brows, and it would not have made much of a difference. Even those who had not officially been of their group, their graduates from this side and that side, if they were in the choir room with them in that moment, would have probably said the same.

For some of them it had been about new beginnings, about finding someone where they never would have expected to find anyone. For others there were missed opportunities, taken opportunities, surprises and regrets. So many of them were caught in the aftermath of a break up, where seeing the one who used to be able to make them smile the best could be as painful as the fact that the smiles had gone away. And then there were those who still yearned to take that chance, to open their hearts and hope more than anything not to have them end up broken into pieces.

They had no regrets about being there though. It was one of those turns of pure luck that they had all ended up there at the same time, and maybe there was a reason. Their lives had been woven together so tight, maybe it was an inevitability of nature that they should be connected, even after life had pulled them apart. For some of them it was a needed twinge of hope, like maybe their stories were not over, and this pain they were feeling was only temporary, until the lines of their lives were twisted together all over again, bound tighter than ever. These moments would be the ones that made them stronger.

THE END


End file.
